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Thursday, January 01, 2009

Happy New Year!

Here are the calenders I chose for 2009. Today is my traditional day for sitting down with the one that will hang in my kitchen to transfer birthdays & anniversaries from the now outdated calendar to the new pristine one. On the one hand, that fresh calendar devoid of any appointments and reminders represents a clean slate, a year of possibilities unknown and a kind of freedom that soon disappears. It always makes me feel fresh and excited. On the other hand, when I start through the old calendar for those birthdays and anniversaries, I get to relive the year just ended, remember lunches with friends, that scary doctor's appointment, a special trip. Some years this reliving is poignant, and this is how it was this afternoon. Without mistake, there was the run-up to losing my dog - the vet appointments that started in July, and got more closely spaced in August & September. The sadness crept back in and I got a little misty-eyed.

But 2008 is over and time to look ahead to what can be, not what was. And which calendar do I want in the kitchen, which in my studio? The fact that I even bought a calendar with antique quilts on it shows I still have a split personality when it comes to quilts. This sort of calendar used to be all I'd get for my sewing room. But then the sewing room became the studio, and my desire to make traditional quilts waned. The calendars became more inspirational than compilations of other people's quilts as my own quilts became more original. Actually, the only reason I bought it was because I'd gone on the Metropolitan Museum of Arts' website to purchase the Eliot Porter one. I discovered they'd already put all their calendars on sale, so looked to see what else was there - for the price and convenience, purchasing the quilt calendar was a no brainer.

But it does not feel right hanging in the studio at this point. I'm not sure it feels right in the kitchen either, but that's what I decided to do. Actually, I'd love to have the Porter one in the kitchen, where I would be assured of seeing it every day, but it fits what I want for inspiration in the studio very well. So there it hangs., filling my senses. His photographs are wonderful to someone like me so influenced by nature. I'd purchased notecards with his images on them from The Met - my first exposure to this artist. I was over the moon to discover they'd put together a calendar of his work. Maybe knowing his work lurks in my studio will get me in there on a more consistent basis this year!

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About Me

I'm a native Idahoan who has finally returned home after many years of bouncing around the U.S. My "Idaho Beauty" trademark comes from a traditional quilt block name, appropriate for a homesick Idahoan in love with all aspects of quilting.
In another life there were motorcycles. Now I content myself with following motorcycle roadracing. When that abates for the winter, I switch to figure skating. I've never had a pair of skates on, but I often dreamed up elaborate programs in my mind. Ah youth...
I've always read, all kinds of things, fiction and non-fiction. I caught the bug for journaling from a HS English teacher, and the love of personal correspondence from my mother.
I've almost always had a dog. I'm currently without, but the last version was a smallish black lab with an attitude big enough to make up for her size. There was some confusion about who was the master in this house. She'll be hard to replace.
I appear to have a calling to create art, but I sometimes flounder in my quest. Thus I blog.